SYRACUSE, N.Y. – To look at the top salaries in the Syracuse school district, one might assume that the vast majority of students are receiving a pretty good education.

But that’s clearly not the case.

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A document posted by the district says “The New York State Department of Education has identified (Syracuse City School District) as a Focus district, which means that student performance is among the worst of all districts in the state. Of the district’s 30 schools, 19 have been identified as Priority Schools.”

Priority Schools are among the lowest performing five percent in the state.

The graduation rate in the district is also nothing to write home about.

As of August 2014 the four-year graduation rate in the district was 55.7 percent, compared to a statewide average of 79.1 percent.

Despite all of those academic headaches, the Syracuse district had 81 employees whose gross salaries topped $100,000 in the 2014-15 school year, and some far exceeded that figure.

Their combined salaries added up to a very healthy $9.5 million – and that’s before benefits and other goodies are added in.

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The top 10 salaries went to Superintendent Sharon Contreras ($249,232), Director of Operations Dean DeSantis ($158,533), Chief Operations Officer Jaime Alicea ($156,010), Principal Robert DeFlorio ($150,201), Principal Patricia Floyd-Echols ($143,583), Principal Pamela Odom-Cain ($143,100), Principal Iverna Minor ($142,513), Chief Accountability Officer Brandan Keaveny ($140,568), Executive Director of High School/Career Education Brian Nolan ($135,168) and Principal Matthew Williams ($133,398).

All 82 of the highest paid employees were administrators, the people who are ultimately responsible for academic outcomes. There were only eight teachers on the list.

It probably wouldn’t be a stretch to call the Syracuse administration a big top-heavy. Does a school district – even a large one – need a superintendent, a director of operations and a chief operations officer, earning a combined $563,776?

One also has to wonder what the chief accountability officer does all day in a district where many of the schools are failing and the students are struggling. Just who is accountable for making sure the kids learn, and why isn’t it happening?

And one might think, with two chief academic officers ($130,431 and $127,749, respectively), an Executive Director of School Turnaround ($129,412) and a Director of School Reform ($127,536) that the academic outcome might be a bit healthier.

The same assumption might be made with a total of 33 principals and 10 assistant principals making more than $100,000 in straight salary.

But according to the district’s state report card, only 59 percent of secondary students, after four years of instruction, tested proficient in English language arts. Only 68 percent were proficient in math, 53 percent in global history and geography, 57 percent in U.S. History and government and 61 percent in science.

The taxpayers of Syracuse are not getting what they are paying for.